The title fight between Pungluang Sor Singyu and Marlon Tapales has been more than a year in the making and it didn’t disappoint with both men trading knockdowns before the Filipino turned the tables on the Thai to score a spectacular 11th round stoppage.

The long awaited fight took place at the Ayutthaya City park and neither man was able to gain a definitive advantage in the early exchanges. However Tapales’ superior speed was evident in the first two rounds as he looked to land quick combinations before circling away.

In round three Pungluang started to apply more pressure and succeeded in trapping the Flipino against the ropes and landing three right hands in quick succession. Tapales circled out and answered with a quick combination of his own with a right uppercut followed by a straight left cross.

It was Pungluang pushing the pace in the fourth as he jabbed through Tapales’ guard and followed up with a straight right downstairs. Again the reigning WBO 118 lbs champion was able to trap the challenger against the ropes and punish him with right hands to the body and head.

The drama intensified in the fifth as a right hook to the body from Pungluang sent Tapales to the canvass. The Filipino beat the count but he was badly hurt and the champion swarmed all over him, scoring a second knockdown with another right hand to the midsection.

Tapales took a long time to get to his feet and the referee looked like he might be about to wave the bout off but the brave Filipino continued. Pungluang threw everything he had at the southpaw who somehow managed to cover up long enough to see out the round.

The two knockdowns still left Tapales potentially a long way behind on the scorecards and he came out for the sixth round with his left elbow tucked in to protect that midsection. Pungluang seemed to be preserving energy as he stayed behind the jab but it was the Filipino who picked up the pace in devastating fashion.

Tapales started to put his combinations together with more confidence and a clubbing right hand from very close range dropped Pungluang. The Thai seemed to stumble to the ground and he bounced straight back up but his punch output dropped dramatically after the knockdown.

In the seventh Pungluang started to apply more pressure and a hard left to the body was answered with a blatant low from Tapales. The referee elected not to take a point and after a brief pause the Thai continued, finishing the round with a flurry of arm punches.

The action slowed significantly in the eighth and the ninth and by round ten Pungluang had virtually given up punching. Normally a pressure fighter, he spent almost the entire three minutes evading Tapales who landed a few right hands to the body.

At the start of the 11th Tapales landed two left hooks to the body followed by a straight left which crashed through Pungluang’s guard. The Thai was sent flying backwards and it was clear that this time he was not getting back up.

It seemed that either exhaustion or an accumulation of punches had taken their toll on Pungluang who simply had nothing left. For Tapales it represented a stunning comeback and the defining moment of a professional career which up until this point had been lacking only a world title.

The finish came just 30 seconds into the penultimate round and sees Tapales crowned as the new WBO 118 lbs champion. His record improves to 29-2 while Pungluang drops to 52-4 after suffering a first ever loss on Thai soil.

On March 11th 2016, a Sor Singyu vs. Marlon Tapales negotiation letter was sent giving the parties ten (10) days to negotiate. Then, on March 20th an extension request to finalize the agreement was received from Rex “Wakee” Salud. On March 22nd, a five (5) day extension was granted until Monday, March 28th 2016. Please inform us immediately the date of the bout.

The title bout was stopped in the seventh round as Pabustan suffered from excessive bleeding from a wound over his left eye. At the time, all the three ringside judges had scored 70-63 in favour of the…

At the time, all the three ringside judges had scored 70-63 in favour of the Thai champion.

It was the first successful title defence for Pungluang, who had claimed the vacant belt by beating Ryo Akaho of Japan in Ratchaburi in August last year.

Pungluang’s record improved to 52 wins against three losses, while Pabustan, ranked fifth in the division, slumped to 26 wins, six draws and three losses.

The Thai claimed the same title the first time by stopping AJ Banal of the Philippines in the ninth round in 2012 but lost it in his first defence against Paulus Ambunda in Namibia in March 2013.

“It was a tough and exciting fight for all the fans. Pabustan turned out to be tougher than we expected,” said Pungluang’s manger Pariyakorn Rattanasuban.

“Punglung is also strong and is hard to beat. I am quite satisfied with his performance.”

With a win over Pabustan, Pungluang now has a mandatory fight against Marlon Tapales, also from Philippines, lined up.

Tapales became eligible for the title crack, which has to take place within 90 days, after stopping Shohei Omori of Japan in the elimination fight in December.

“Definitely, we will bid to host the fight in Thailand,” said Pariyakorn.

“Pungluang still has some weaknesses and he needs to train a lot before fighting Tapales.”

Pungluang Sor Singyu recently captured the WBO bantamweight crown for the second time when he stopped Japanese contender Ryo Akaho in two rounds on August 7 in Ratchaburi, Thailand. The big punching Thai raised his record to 51-3, 35 KOs with the win. Pungluang took some time to talk with Fightnews about recapturing the crown, his past losses, fighting abroad and his future in the ring.
(A special thanks to Dr. Siraphop Ratanasuban of One Songchai Promotions for his assistance with translating for the champ!)

Pungluang, congratulations on regaining the WBO Bantamweight title. How does it feel to be a world champion for the second time?

I am very happy.

Did you expect to score such a quick KO against your recent foe Ryo Akaho in winning the belt again?

No, Ryo is a good boxer. I just got lucky.

I want to go back to your start in boxing. You turned professional at age 16. Did you take the traditional road for many Thai boxers and begin in Muay Thai?

Yes. I fought 60 fights professional Muaythai before I turned to professional boxing.

Why did you decide to convert over to “Western” style boxing?

The promoter gives me good money and promised to make me world champion, as long as I train well.

In becoming WBO champion twice- you’ve won a vacant belt both times. Do you follow your co-champions Shinsuke Yamanaka (WBC), Randy Caballero (IBF), Juan Carlos Payano (WBA) and if so, would you be interested in unifying with any of them, to try and be recognized as the best in the division?

I would like to fight close by my country such as Japan first. For far away country, I am not so sure I want to go. I prefer to fight in Thailand.

All three of your losses have been on the road (Stephane Jamoye- SD10 in Belgium, Paulus Ambunda- UD 12 in Namibia and Tomoki Kameda- KO by 7 in the USA). Do you blame the long distance travel as a factor in those defeats?

Yes, I don’t like to fight overseas much. I love my hometown family to cheer me. I want to build more experience while I fight in Thailand first.

Do you feel the two decision losses- one split in Jamoye’s hoe town and one close unanimous in Ambunda’s home town were fair or did you feel you did enough to win?

I feel I was a bad boy. I did not train well and didn’t get ready for those fights.

If the money is right, will you be willing to travel abroad for more fights or would you rather have several fights at home where you feel more comfortable?

I would like to have several more fights at home to be more comfortable first.

In the Kameda fight, the scores were dead even after six rounds, with each of you leading on one score card and a draw on the third. You were stopped in the seventh round. How frustrating was that loss in such a close fight?

Yes, I did not train well in that fight. I deserve to lose.

At 27 years old, you are relatively young, but have been fighting for eleven years and have had fifty four fights. Do you feel like you are slowing down at all, or do you still have many years to go?

I feel I am a very young champion. I have a bright future ahead of me. I am in a climbing up period now.

With a 65% knockout ratio, power seems to be a big part of your game. Do you rely on your power to win a fight or do you feel you are a complete boxer?

I think I am power boxer. I love to KO and get audiences excited.

What is next for you in your first defense of your second title reign?

It is up to my promoter Madame Pariyakorn Ratanasuban. I do my job by keep training.

Any final thoughts or words to your fans both at home in Thailand and around the world?

Thank you everyone for cheering for me. I will work hard and not let my boxing fans get disappointed.

Pungluang Sor Singyu made no effort yesterday to conceal his unease and openly acknowledged that he was under pressure while readying himself for the fight against Japan’s Ryo Akaho for the vacant WBO bantamweight title in Ratchaburi on Aug 7.

Pungluang, a former WBO champion who is ranked second in the division, claimed that boxing in front of his fans in Ratchaburi would not give him any real advantage over his opponent but will rather put him under more pressure.

“I am feeling the pressure a lot,” he said. “Everyone is suggesting that I have to win the title here,” said the fighter, who has so far sparred more than 100 rounds to prepare for the title bout.

“As for Akaho, we have studied his fights carefully. He is classic and very fast. What I can say is that he is not an easy opponent to beat.”

Pungluang (50-3-0, 34KOs) stopped AJ Banal in the ninth round to win the vacant title in the Philippines in October 2012.

However, in his first defence, he lost to Paulus Ambunda in Namibia in March 2013.

His manager Pariyakorn Rattanasuban said she had invested a lot of money to get the fight to be held in the country, but she was concerned about Pungluang’s fitness.

“I just hope he will be in a great shape for the fight and will not disappoint us,” she said. “I made a mistake last time by making him defend his title in Namibia even though he was not fit enough at the time.”

Akaho, who holds a record of 26-1-2 with 18KOs, is challenging for a world title for the second time after losing to then-champion Yota Sator in a WBC flyweight championship bout in 2012. The WBO title has been vacated by Tomoki Kameda of Japan.

On the undercard, veteran Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo will compete in the featherweight division for the last time before moving up to the super-featherweight class.

The WBO bantamweight title was on the line as a special pre-pay-per-view attraction before the Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara main card. Undefeated Tomoki Kameda was defending his title against former champion Pungluang Sor Singyu.

The bout was entertaining, but fought in front of a mostly empty arena as Las Vegas boxing crowds arrive late, so a pre-PPV bout wasn’t going to have much by way of fans in the stands.

Singyu was able to land some big shots and even badly hurt Kameda in round four. But Kameda appeared to be clearly up on the cards heading into round seven.

In round seven, Kameda landed some solid shots that cut Singyu around his left eye before landing a brilliant body shot at 1:35 of the round, freezing Singyu in place and causing him to collapse to the canvas in awful pain.

Singyu would not get to his feet as Kameda retained his title with a TKO.

It turned out that the official cards had the fight closer than most observers as it was a draw after six rounds, 58-56 Kameda, 58-56 Singyu and 57-57.

WBO bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda (29-0, 18KOs) is training very hard for the upcoming defense of his title against Pungluang Sor Singyu (46-2, 31KOs) on July 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The card will be headlined by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara.

Kameda and Sor Singyu have a common opponent in Paulus Ambunda. The unbeaten Japanase boxer won his title from Ambunda, who holds a decision over Sor Singyu.

Kameda is currently training in Mexico with Cuban trainer Osmiri “El Moro” Fernández.

Pungluang Sor Singyu will make the first defense of his WBO Bantamweight belt on March 2nd against the unbeaten Paulus Ambunda in Namibia.

The Thai fighter won the title by stopping AJ Banal in Manila earlier this year and will be putting a 43-1 record on the line when he takes on Ambunda who is 19-0 but has never fought outside of Namibia.

Despite having over twice as many fights Pungluang is eight years younger than the Namibian who is the WBO International Bantamweight champion and the WBO Africa Bantamweight Champion.

Amateur Career

“I had more than 400 amateur contests and just three losses, one to my brother. We met in a provincial final. He was older and I was underweight. I was always very small and light. I had to put stones into my underwear to make the minimum 26KG (4st 1lb). I won three national gold medals and a bronze at the African zonal tournament but only had two or three senior bouts before turning pro.”

Notes

Prior to his Sept. 29 2008 bout against Sergio Carlos Santillan, Tete collapsed in his home and suffered convulsions and an “epileptic fit” that caused his to temporarily lose consciousness. He was able to be brought around at the hospital, but after four days of testing, doctors still had no certain diagnosis as to what caused the episode. Due to eight months of inactivity, Tete was forced to relinquish his WBF flyweight title, but was eventually cleared to return to the ring.